Golf tee insertion tool

ABSTRACT

An insertion tool having an upper section and an insertion section coupled to the upper section and configured to be inserted into a teeing ground to create a depression for insertion of a golf tee. The upper section and insertion section may be a unitary body or may be coupled via a threaded connection.

PRIORITY CLAIM/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 61/589,578 entitled “Tee Insertion Tool” that was filed on Jan. 23,2012 and names Lon Klein as inventor. The entirety of that applicationis hereby expressly incorporated by reference into this application.

BACKGROUND

In golf, a tee is normally used (and is beneficial to use) for the firststroke of each hole, and the area from which this first stroke is hit isinformally known as the tee box, also known as the teeing ground.Normally, teeing the ball is allowed only on the first shot of a hole,called the tee shot, and teeing up usually not allowed for any othershot. Teeing gives a considerable advantage for drive shots, so it ishighly desirable whenever allowed. A standard golf tee is 2.750″ (twoand three quarter inches) long, but both longer and shorter tees arepermitted and are preferred by some players.

A standard golf tee is constructed of wood, plastic or syntheticmaterial and has a pointed end for insertion into the ground. However,there are also other types of tees such as the golf tee described inU.S. patent applications Ser. No. 12/956,310 that may or may not includesuch a pointed end for insertion into the ground.

SUMMARY

An insertion tool having an upper section and an insertion sectioncoupled to the upper section and configured to be inserted into a teeingground to create a depression for insertion of a golf tee. The uppersection and insertion section may be a unitary body or may be coupledvia a threaded connection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an insertion tool for a golf teeaccording to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional side view of the insertion tool accordingto an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows the same cross-sectional side view of the insertion toolshown in FIG. 2, but further includes exemplary dimensions according toan exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows a top view of the insertion tool according to an exemplaryembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference tothe following description and appended drawings, wherein like elementsare referred to with the same reference numerals. The exemplaryembodiments describe a golf tee insertion tool that prepares the teeingground to receive a golf tee.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an insertion tool 1 for a golf tee.The insertion tool 1 is designed, for example, for use with the golf teedescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/956,310. The exemplaryinsertion tool 1 may be used to prepare the ground to receive this golftee. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that theinsertion tool 1 may be modified for use with any type of golf tees. Thefunction of the insertion tool 1 may be generally described as preparingthe teeing ground (e.g., the tee box) to receive the tee. The golf teedescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/956,310 includesvarious components that are generally cylindrical hollow tubes. Thehollow tubes are designed for direct insertion into the teeing ground.However, in some instances, the golfer may desire to prepare the teeingground prior to inserting the tee into the ground. For example, theteeing ground may be harder than expected, the golfer may have weakfingers or hands making it difficult to push the tee into the teeingground without first preparing the teeing ground, etc. The insertiontool 1 functions to prepare the teeing ground to receive the tee.

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional side view of the insertion tool 1. It isnoted that FIG. 2 and the subsequent figures show various dimensions forthe insertion tool 1. These dimensions are only meant to be exemplaryand it is possible for an insertion tool 1 to be manufactured havingdifferent dimensions. In addition, the insertion tool 1 may beconstructed from any rigid or semi-rigid material that will enable theinsertion tool 1 to perform the function of preparing the ground asdescribed herein. For example, the insertion tool 1 may be constructedfrom plastic, metal, composite material, a combination thereof, etc. Thefirst described embodiment of the insertion tool 1 is described ashaving a unitary body. Thus, if the insertion tool 1 is constructed ofplastic, the unitary body of the insertion tool 1 may be molded. In theexample of the insertion tool 1 being constructed from metal, theunitary body may be stamped, milled and/or formed into the shape asdescribed herein. However, as will be described in a further embodimentbelow, it is not a requirement that the insertion tool 1 have a unitarybody.

The insertion tool 1 will now be described with reference to the viewsof FIGS. 1 and 2. Initially, the insertion tool 1 has an insertionsection 10 and upper section 20. The insertion section 10 is the portionof the insertion tool 1 that is designed for insertion into the teeingground to prepare the ground. The upper section 20 is designed to allowthe golfer to easily push the insertion section 10 into the teeingground and retrieve the insertion tool 1 from the teeing ground 1. Theinsertion section 10 is generally cylindrical and includes wall 14 thatsurrounds a hollow core 12. In the example of FIG. 2, the wall 14 isshown as having a tapered diameter. This is not a requirement of theinsertion section 10. In addition, the example of FIG. 2 shows the wall14 enclosing the hollow core 12 in the area of wall section 16. It isalso noted that it is not necessary for the wall 14 to enclose thehollow core 12 in this area. In fact, it may be advantageous to notinclude the wall section 16 because it may make it easier to push theinsertion section 10 into the teeing ground if there is no resistancefrom the wall section 16.

The length of the insertion section 10 from where it joins the uppersection 20 to the location generally shown as wall section 16 isapproximately ½″. The diameter of the insertion section 10 should besubstantially the diameter of the golf tee that is going to be insertedinto the teeing ground. As should be readily apparent from thesedimensions, after the insertion section 10 is removed from the teeingground, a ring-like depression having a diameter that is substantiallyequal to the insertion section and corresponding tee that isapproximately ¼″ deep remains. The golfer may then easily insert the teeinto this depression in the teeing ground. Those of skill in the artwill understand that the shape of the insertion section 10 may be variedto match the shape of the golf tee that is going to be inserted. Forexample, if instead of having a circular cross-section, the insertionportion of the tee had an octagon shaped cross-section, the insertionsection 10 may also be designed with an octagon shaped cross-section.

The upper section 20 is a substantially circular section that, asdescribed above, is designed to allow the golfer to push the insertionsection into the teeing ground. The design of the upper section 20allows the golfer to push the upper section 20 using their hands and orfingers or their foot, either by themselves or in combination with agolf ball as will be described in greater detail below. The uppersection 20 includes an outer edge 22 that is designed to remain abovethe teeing ground when the insertion section 10 is pressed into theteeing ground to allow the golfer to pull the insertion tool 1 out ofthe ground. This edge may include a taper or other device that allowsthe golfer to pull the insertion tool 1 out of the teeing ground.

The upper section 20 also includes a cup formed by ridge 24 and wall 26.The wall 26 tapers toward the section 28 where the upper section 20meets the insertion section 10. This taper and the depth of the tapergenerally match the taper of a golf ball, while the diameter of theridge 24 matches the diameter of the golf ball in an area where the golfball would contact the ridge 24. Thus, the cup formed by the ridge 24and wall 26 may hold a golf ball.

As described above, a golfer may place the insertion tool 1 onto theteeing ground with a golf ball in the cup. The golfer may then pressdown on the golf ball using their hands or foot or even a golf club topress the insertion section 10 into the teeing ground. In thealternative, the golfer may decide not to place a golf ball in the cup,but rather just press down on the upper section 20 using their hand orfoot or golf club to press the insertion section into the teeing ground.The golfer may then pull the insertion tool 1 out of the ground, e.g.,by gripping the edge 22 and pulling. As described above, the tee maythen be inserted into the depression in the teeing ground left by theinsertion section 10.

FIG. 3 shows the same cross-sectional side view of the insertion tool 1as FIG. 2, but further including some exemplary dimensions.

FIG. 4 shows a top view of insertion tool 1. The top view shows the edge22, the ridge 24, the wall 26 and the section 28 as concentric circleswith the overall diameter of the circular upper section 20 being 1.5″.Again, it is noted that while the upper section 20 is shown as agenerally circular section, other shapes are also possible, e.g.,square, octagonal, etc.

In a further exemplary embodiment, the insertion tool 1 may include athreaded portion in the area of section 28 in both the upper section 20and the insertion section 10. Thus, the insertion tool 1 may have twodiscrete parts, the upper section 20 and the insertion section 10 witheach having corresponding threaded portions. The insertion section 10may be screwed into the upper section 20 to form the insertion tool 1.This design would allow the golfer to vary the depth that the insertionsection 10 goes into the ground. As described above, an exemplary lengthof the insertion section 10 is approximately ½″. However, creating aninsertion section that is slightly longer and then threading theinsertion section 10 either more or less into the upper section 20, thegolfer may create depressions having varying depths. This allows thegolfer to use the same length tee, but because the depth of insertion isvaried, the height of the tee may be varied.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications may be made in the present invention, without departingfrom the spirit or the scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended thatthe present invention cover modifications and variations of thisinvention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims andtheir equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An insertion tool, comprising: an upper section;and an insertion section coupled to the upper section and configured tobe inserted into a teeing ground to create a depression for insertion ofa golf tee.
 2. The insertion tool of claim 1, wherein the upper sectionand insertion section is a unitary body.
 3. The insertion tool of claim1, wherein the upper section and insertion section are coupled via athreaded connection.
 4. The insertion tool of claim 3, wherein a depthof insertion of the insertion section is variable based on the threadedconnection.
 5. The insertion tool of claim 1, wherein the upper sectionincludes a cup for receiving a golf ball.
 6. The insertion tool of claim1, wherein the upper section includes an edge configured to allow agolfer to retrieve the insertion tool from the teeing ground after theinsertion section is inserted into the teeing ground.
 7. The insertiontool of claim 1, wherein the insertion tool is constructed from one of aplastic, a metal, and a composite material.
 8. The insertion tool ofclaim 1, wherein the insertion section includes a wall that is generallycylindrical and tapers as the wall extends away from the upper section.9. The insertion tool of claim 8, wherein the wall surrounds a hollowcore.
 10. The insertion tool of claim 9, wherein the wall at an end awayfrom the upper section encloses the hollow core.
 11. The insertion toolof claim 1, wherein a length of the insertion section is substantiallyone-half inch.